I reluctantly dealt with former CJN, Walter Onnoghen - President Buhari

President Buhari yesterday openned up on why his administration dealt with the immediate past Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Walter Onnoghen.



Justice Onnoghen was suspended in January this year over claims he failed to declare all his assets when he assumed office in March 2017 and also after suspicious amount of money were found in his Naira and foreign accounts. He was tried at the Code of Conduct Tribunal and in May, the former CJN tendered in his resignation.



President Buhari while receiving members of the Pan Yoruba group, Afenifere in his office in the state House Abuja yesterday June 25th, said he went after the former CJN when he could not explain the source of the money found in his accounts. Speaking to the Yoruba leaders, the President said;


“I will tell you as Afenifere, that was why I had to deal though reluctantly with the former Chief Justice, because there were millions of dollars, euros, not to talk of naira, which were not declared.

I wonder what sort of conscience some of us have. How can you seat and preside and lock people up for years and even sentence some to death and yet you are not doing what the constitution says you should do by occupying that vital institution.

On fighting corruption, you know it again I don’t mind repeating myself even though I sound like a broken record, as a military head of state, I took everyone to prison and pronounced them guilty until they can prove themselves innocent.

We put tribunals in all geo-political zones and they investigated those who were in charge of government money and took all of them in prison until they explained what happened to government’s money. Even I was detained, this is Nigeria.

That was why I decided to put on agbada and see. I attempted three times up to Supreme Court and winning the fourth time thanking God and technology, I am now qualified to be a solider and a politician.

Now what I do is when a person cannot justify what he has or fails to declare as the constitution specifies, some of them swear to almighty God that their property doesn’t belong to them until we show them their bank accounts and their companies then we have some peace.’’